A number of other brackets exist which attach to various items and to which casters or wheels may attach. While such known brackets are suitable for their intended purposes, they have certain shortcomings that are addressed by the bracket of the invention.
What differentiates the present invention from those that precede it is that the brackets of the present invention may either be attached temporarily to an item, giving that item the benefit of occasional mobility, or they may be temporarily or permanently attached to some in a class of items and not attached to others in that same class of items.
Furniture dollies and/or hand trucks also provide means to make hard-to-move objects temporarily mobile, but it may be easy for those objects to fall off the furniture dollies or hand trucks. The present invention addresses this problem by temporarily and physically attaching to the hard-to-move object. In this manner the safety issues inherent to such situations are dramatically improved.
U.S. Pat. No. Re. 16,133 granted Aug. 11, 1925 to Smithfield describes a caster bracket socket that incorporates means whereby a caster socket may be secured to a member not adapted to receive customary caster sockets.
U.S. Pat. No. 102,253 granted Apr. 26, 1870 to Grosse describes an improvement in casters that incorporates flanged caster-plates providing a complete fit against a corresponding surface on the inside of angular or rectilinear-footed furniture.
U.S. Pat. No. 171,981 granted Jan. 11, 1876 to Brinton describes an improvement in furniture-casters that incorporates a caster body having vertical and horizontal parts which fit against corresponding vertical and horizontal surfaces and which fastens to a side surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,532,064 granted Mar. 31, 1925 to Neiswender describes an adjustable attaching frame for furniture casters that incorporates an adjustable U-shaped attaching frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,134 granted Jul. 15, 2003 to Abraham describes a ladder transport system that incorporates a method and apparatus for removably affixing a wheel assembly to the end and edge of a ladder leg.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,515 granted Sep. 17, 2002 to Guth describes clip-on wheels for structures with runners that incorporate removably attachable wheel assemblies.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,663 granted Jan. 19, 1988 to Termini describes a detachable caster wheel assembly that incorporates a slotted mounting bracket which receives a flanged caster plate assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,133 granted Jul. 15, 2003 to Powell describes removably attachable wheel assembly for article transporting containers that incorporates adhesively attached plastic bases for snap-on rolling wheels.
Smithfield Re. 16,133 and Grosse U.S. Pat. No. 102,253 and Brinton U.S. Pat. No. 171,981 all describe variations of typical brackets for casters which are neither adjustable nor temporary. Neiswender U.S. Pat. No. 1,532,064 describes a bracket which is adjustable but permanent. Abraham U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,134 and Guth U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,515 both describe brackets which are adjustable and temporary but not variable in either the angle by which they may be attached or the range of objects to which they may be attached. Termini U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,663 describes a bracket which is removable but not adjustable. Powell U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,133 describes a bracket which is removable but specific to one type of object (luggage).